is no time. No time for shattered emotions or disorientation. No time for thoughts
of the past and life as a human. Where you stand is the crossroads. Here and now.
You must shed your human thoughts and become what you were born to be. Now
look out into the horizon and call upon your fortress.”
Rayne shot glances between the girls and Katsumi. “Uhh, call a fortress? I
have no idea how to do that. I just got here, remember?”
The priestess"s austere expression hardened. “Call upon your fortress.”
“I can"t. I don"t know how. Can you at least show me? I"m clueless here.”
496
Sighing, as if totally frustrated, she folded her arms over her breasts. “If you
don"t at least try then perhaps I was wrong. You are not the Queen I thought you
to be. You are not the Queen who locked herself in the house to battle a powerful
shifter without the knowledge of her powers. You are not the Queen who was
prepared to fight one of the strongest demons raised from the bowels of hell for the
life of a mere mortal, who you refused to finish when your blood hunger nearly
dropped you to your knees! Are you not that Queen?”
“Damn, why you had to go there?” she murmured with a grimace as restrain
the shed of tears. Rayne felt that hurt all over again about Troy losing his life over
this mess.
Maybe she wasn"t that Queen. Maybe she was better off believing she was
human, the way she did before that beautiful demon vampire came into her life.
“Your resolve is not weak! Your consort is passing along the will for you to
succeed as we speak. Do not allow his efforts to be in vain. Do it!” she commanded,
pointing out into the vast nothingness.
Irritated, Rayne huffed and glared at the priestess who had become a drill
sergeant. It was better when she was just singing. Releasing the girl"s hands, she
marched past Katsumi and closed her eyes. She searched her mind for the secret of
calling upon the fortress, but got nothing.
How was she supposed to know how to do this?
497
“It"s like taking your first sip of blood. It"s natural, instinctive. Feel it course through your
veins, that knowledge which lives within you, and make it appear.”
She took a deep breath. With the priestess"s gentle persuasion caressing her
mind, a set of words seeped from her lips in a language, she now understood.
“Guardians of the spirit realm, bring forth the fortress of dragons.”
The ground quaked causing her to stumble backward. Then from the
greenish blue plain, a large structure of ivory and gold soared up to the clouds.
Along the wide expanse of land, buildings alike sprouted from the ground like
flowers to join the massive edifice.
Columns spiraled with imprints of serpentine dragons towered as far as the
eye could see. Statues of dragons with their wings spread wide sat on either side of
the iridescent stairway leading up to the entrance.
She"d traveled the world, saw many amazing sights, but nothing could
compare to this.
“Now see, my lady…” Katsumi moved to her side, her voice once again as soft
as the wind. “That wasn"t so difficult, was it?”
Rayne rolled her eyes toward her. “Oh, so you got jokes now?”
Two small hands took hers once again and led her forward.
“By the way, the small creature who greeted you at your arrival is Daz. He is
the gatekeeper to the spirit realm, cute and cuddly, but deadly when crossed. The
498
two nymphs holding your hands are Tahi and Goma. Tahi on the left, and Goma on
the right. Remember their names, because you will be urged to call upon them
soon.”
Rayne looked down at their grinning faces. Tahi had the pink hair and
Goma had the purple hair. She"d have to remember that, as not to mix them up.
“This fortress belonged to Lord Kaishan, your father, and was left to you in
his absence. Do you see the white and sterling aura circling above the clouds and
the structure? Well that energy was once black as night, and the walls of the city
were cluttered with blood thirsty Bashi dragons, the rulers of the skies.”
Katsumi"s words painted an eerie picture in her mind. “My dad was evil,
wasn"t he?”
“With every fiber of his being,” she replied, casting a half smile over her
shoulder.
“Alright, so, if he was so evil, how did he hook up a battle angel?”
“True love,” was her simple answer. “It was a forbidden love, one that had
been foretold from my very lips, but who"d believe a Xsonri and battle angel would
unite. Your father was granted command over the dragons by the very creature
who seeks you as his mate. So much power can turn even the Godliest person to
the dark side, but of course your father was never a seeker of light. Neither was I,”
she added with a wicked grin. “Lord Kaishan killed and feasted on all. The demon
499
realm was his and the race of dragons his loyal minions. Word of his pillaging
reached the heavens. Although the demon realm was an area the angels did not
breach, the heavenly warriors could not stand by and allow Lord Kaishan to
continue his reign of death, so they sent down your mother, Nikena, to destroy
him. And in so many ways, she succeeded.”
Katsumi paused at the steps to turn and face her. “Two hundred days and
two hundred nights your parents fought a vicious battle. My blade had tasted
Nikena"s flesh many times, but she was not to be taken down.” Looking away, she
smiled. “There is no mystery to why they sent Nikena. She"s the best, and truly a
force to be reckoned with. Once she shattered my blade into a thousand pieces,
and bested your father, she cleansed his dark soul and purified me, therefore
restructuring my blade with the powers of heaven, even though she was supposed
to kill us both. After that, love united them and you were conceived, a sacred love
child, a cardinal sin.”
“Sharayna, you are the Dragon Queen because upon his death, Lord Kaishan
passed his rule over the dragons onto you. Even without the force of the dragons
on your side, you would still be powerful, and your blood sacred, but the addition
makes you a supreme being. Your father had much faith in you, child, even before
you were brought into this world.”
500
Rayne"s heart tightened. “What happened to them, my parents?” she choked
out on a whisper.
“Nikena was forced into exile, and Kaishan was put to death by the battle
angels. His soul was dragged into Okidi, a purgatory set aside for powerful demons.
His dragons were captured. Where they have them, I don"t know.”
Blinking back tears, Rayne clutched her gown. “So they killed him? But my
mother had healed him. He was purified, saved, right? Why did they still have to
kill him? I don"t understand.” She glanced down at the girls and saw them
shedding tears. They felt her pain. “Do the angels live by some rule to kill without
a second chance when the person"s soul has been cleansed? That"s not fair.”
“No, it is not. There are many things about this world you will never
understand. But I can guarantee you will be faced with the same choice one day
and before you lay down your judgment, I hope you will remember how your
father was taken.” With a soft rueful smile, Katsumi caressed the side of her face.
“Now dry your tears, my beautiful young Queen. Hold this emotion for those
destined to taste the edge of your blade.” She took her hand. “Come, you must be
ordained.”
They climbed the long path of steps. As they drew closer to the entrance,
Rayne saw statues of men and women lined along the first few steps, but once she
501
was close enough to get a better look, she realized they weren"t statues at all.
These were real people.
The women were glazed in gold and the men in silver. Portions of animal
hides covered their goody parts. Masks, crested in colorful jewels covered their
faces. In the place where there should be holes for the eyes, were large diamonds
shaded with the color of the sky.
“Why are they wearing masks?” Rayne mumbled, easing closer to one of the
men. “And how come their eyes are covered?” She noticed right away the man
trembling as she eased closer to him. “Why you shaking, brah? I"m not gonna hurt
you.”
“No, my lady, you are not to speak to them, not yet. And if you don"t want
me to kill him, then please don"t touch him.” Squeezing her hand, Katsumi pulled
her away and walked ahead of her.
“Well damn Katsumi, violent much?”
“Larkons are dragons able to take mortal form. They are servants of the royal
fortress and are not allowed to look upon the Queen nor be graced with her touch
while she is fluxing. Your touch is an aphrodisiac to dragons at this moment. I"m
sure I don"t need to explain to you what that means. Once you have evolved, mated
with your lover and come into your true form, then the masks will be removed.
502
After that, you may touch them if you please,” she finished with the careless wave
of her hand.
“Okay, Larkons are dragons. No touching. Got that part, but the masks
seems kinda cruel. How do they get around if they can"t see?”
“My dear Queen,” she sighed. “You don"t need eyes to see. You only need
your spiritual force. You will learn that in due time.”
“Uhm, ya know, you don"t have to keep—it"s, it"s just Sharayna,” she
stammered. “I mean, the Queen and majesty and all, is a little too formal for me,
and a lil" weird, honestly. I"m a simple kinda girl. You can just call me Sharayna, or
just plain ole" Rayne.”
“Rayne!” the girl"s shouted in unison. “We like Rayne!”
Chuckling, Katsumi looked over her shoulder. “Then Rayne it is.”
“Oh, so they understand me now?”
“They"ve always understood you. It is you who now understand them. Your
words have been spoken in Curro, the dragon tongue since you raised the fortress.
Have you not noticed?”
She put her hands over her mouth and glanced at the girls who beamed at
her. “Uh, no.”
“Well, you have. And it"s pleasing to me, because now I won"t have to work
as hard to bring about what is already within you.”
503
A large set of doors opened once they got to the landing. They advanced
through a hall with glossy, marble flooring accentuated in deep earth tones. More
servants were bordered along the dark orange walls, holding torches, but there
was nothing else to this space. No chairs, couches, portraits or decorative
accessories. Just a big open space with a whole lot of nothing.
They came to a dark room where Katsumi waved them in. After retrieving a
torch from one of the servants, she willed the doors shut behind her. Quickly, she
pulled Rayne over to a square hole in the floor filled with a silver liquid.
“Kneel here,” Katsumi ordered, pointing to a familiar coiled symbol
highlighted on the marble floor.
Once Rayne lowered to her knees, the familiarity hit her. It was the same
symbol the dragon"s tail was curved into at the small of her back. Her birth
symbol. With the thought, the tattoo heated.
“Yes, yes, it is coming to you now.”
Another set of symbols came alive on either side of her. The girls position
themselves on top of them and kneeled next to her. Katsumi walked around to the
other side of the small body of liquid and gracefully lowered to her knees.
“It is here where you will discover your true self. It is here where you will
unite with the demon within.”
504
She dropped the torch in the liquid and it sank out of sight. The perimeter
ignited in red flames and the puddle expanded. An image of Demetri took form on
the surface of the pool. Her whole body shuddered at the sight.
“My master. Your lover, your protector and your chosen consort. The union
between you two must be greater than the physical. It must be solid and
unbreakable, because the darkness will test you both and do what it takes to
shatter what has been created. He gives you power, just as you give him power,
but don"t let his darkness deceive you. After existing for hundreds of years without
emotion or the need for love, he finds himself in a very unfamiliar place. If you
don"t love him, then he will become something very frightening and
uncontrollable.”
“I think I do love him. Hell, I can"t even breathe without him,” Rayne
confided, not once taking her eyes from his image.
“No, young one. You don"t truly love him, not yet. At this moment in time,
you are in a lust-filled state. You desire what he has shown you, the pleasure he
can give you and his beauty. But, you have not seen the true Lord Demetri, and
until he is comfortable enough to show you that side of him, you two cannot move
forward as King and Queen.”
“Wait. I think I did see the true side, through his mind when he forced me to
look in.”
505
Katsumi laughed at her expense. “What he allowed you to see is nothing,
child. A simple riddance of evil souls. I assure you that. You will one day see that
his darkness goes a lot deeper than what is on the surface.” The liquid rippled with
her words. “Your existence will bring that out of him. You must understand, your
blood holds power immeasurable to vampires and demons. Power which can make
a vampire a day walker and a demon unstoppable.”
“Wait, if my blood is so powerful, how come Demetri won"t take from me. I
offered, I did, and he started acting all crazy about it.”
“Because you were not aware of your true nature, and even if I send you back
at this moment with the knowledge you have now, he most likely will continue to
reject your offer.”
“I don"t get it. Why?”
A small smile curved her lips. “That is something you and your consort will
have to discuss.”
“Lemme ask you something, off the subject, well kinda. His brother told me
I have a scent that"s making people crazy. That sounds stupid to me. But is it true?”
“How do you think Lord Demetri found you?” She chuckled. “A demon
Queen is just like any female animal. Your body releases a scent to attract your
mate and at the same time, your mate releases a scent also. Before your twentieth
birthday, a s
pell was cast on you to scatter your scent, which is why it is
506
everywhere. The imprint on your back, which you received from a young man in
Hong Kong years ago…That is a gychi spell.”
She reached back and brushed her fingers across the heated tattoo, her eyes
widening. The guy"s face was so vivid in her mind; his unusual dark eyes, and his
mystical allure…
“So the tattoo artist was a—”
“A wizard, yes, sent by your mother. The spell was used to keep you hidden
from a certain someone, but as we feared, the demons got wind of it.”
“Demons? Hold up, waita minute, you just said the spell makes the scent go
everywhere, so does that mean…” Clutching the front of the gown, she tried to will
back the sudden sickness in her stomach. Goma and Tahi scooted closer to her and
rested their heads on her shoulders. “All those girls are dead „cause of me?”
“You are not to place blame on yourself,” she stated sternly. “You did not
release the chingi into the earthly realm, the dark consort did. They were released
to lure you out of hiding during your mid-shift. So there were casualties and there
will be more, but this is nothing compared to the atrocity that would have befallen
your world if you were cradled in the wrong arms right now.”
Tears welled in her eyes. She opened and closed her mouth, wanting to spill
her pain, but couldn"t. God, how could this happen? Because her blood, people
were dying all around the world.
507
“Sentiments are good, but as I"ve said before, you are to hold onto them.
Bottle them up and release them onto those who are deserving of it. Use it as your
force to achieve retribution for the souls that have been taken.”
Sucking back the tears, she nodded and dropped her attention back to the
pool of silver.
Once her sniffles died down, Katsumi dipped her finger into the puddle,
sending endless circles rippling through the liquid to erase Demetri"s image. The
pool separated into six small sections. The familiar faces of the men and women
who bravely fought with demons in her mind came forth.
“Six battle angels were chosen by the commander of God"s army and sent
Black Rayne Silent Screams Page 39